3 July 2015

Catholic Ecumenism ... practicalities ...

Fr Aidan Nichols expressed an opinion that the "Declaration on Religious Freedom" of Vatican II "occasions a genuine difficulty for orthodox Catholics"; and he went on to deplore the "withdrawal from theo-politics on the part of the hierarchy", which he considered a "dereliction of duty", concluding "I do not think we can wholly exculpate the fathers of the Council".

Readers will be aware that the Conciliar document Dignitatis humanae, which affirmed the previous teaching of the Church on this subject and then promptly went on to appear to contradict it, is one of the main theological problems advanced by the SSPX. Archbishop Lefebvre vigorously supported, for all his life, the Rule, the Kingdom of Christ, and regarded this Decree of Vatican II as the main disaster of that Council.

This autumn, at Norcia, the newly formed Dialogos Institute is to take up this subject at a conference October 29-November 1. It will take place in the presence of Cardinal Burke, and include such luminaries as Roberto de Mattei, John Rao, Thomas Pink, Christopher Ferrara ...

Sorting out this problem is one of the real necessities for the reintegration of the traditionalist movement in the Latin Church. Do your bit by supporting this initiative!!

3 comments:

Based on all the stuff that's been coming up, it sounds like the first thing you have to ask with any Vatican II documents is whether this is another one of those documents with all the old-dude footnotes gone? Then, is it one of those where you have to follow the footnotes to another document in order to find any references older than Pius XXII, or what? And how good or bad is the translation, and in what languages? What revision are we even looking at, and who did the revising and approving?

Popping over to vatican.va, I do see a couple footnotes from Pope Leo XIII in Dignitatis humanae, but nothing older. Quotes don't seem to be well-marked (which is why everything is "cf.," I suppose). And I see tons of Bible citations that aren't footnoted or marked, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are quotes from the Fathers that aren't marked, either.

I don't really have time today to go Googling suspicious Latin phrases or going into Bible references; but it would be nice to have a better edition of the document before people get into a big theological argument about it.

Dignitatis Humanae was written at the height of the Cold War. National Socialism had been defeated, Marxist Socialism was now the great threat. Other issues apart, it is a declaration of religious freedom in the face of political coercion.

The sad thing today is that this issue has returned, but it is the Western so-called “democracies “ who are threatening religious liberty and constricting the right of Catholics to declare openly their beliefs concerning marriage and the Family.

The Church, it emphasises, upholds human conscience. No one can be forced to be a Christian, or indeed a Catholic. It is a matter of personal choice .

But 14. it makes it clear that all consciences must be formed by the sacred and certain doctrine of the Catholic Church, which must be proclaimed faithfully and vigorously - something the post-Vatican II Church has utterly failed to do, and still fails to do.

The answer is for the Church to undo the "dereliction of duty" and again declare to civil authorities and all, the Teaching of the One True Church.

Fr John Hunwicke

was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. Since 2011, he has been in full communion with the See of S Peter. The opinions expressed on this Blog are not asserted as being those of the Magisterium of the Church, but as the writer's opinions as a private individual. Nevertheless, the writer strives, hopes, and prays that the views he expresses are conformable with and supportive of the Magisterium. In this blog, the letters PF stand for Pope Francis.